by Carol A. Muratore
“I’ve had my turn. I’ve been blessed with 71 years on the water. I’m saying this for the independent, commercial watermen coming up,” said Danny Crabbe. “It’s a different day and you need to adapt.”
Danny is hopeful that the younger folks in the business will be able to make it and this industry will survive. But a lot has changed. Danny has seen it all. He’s been a crabber, run fishing charters and has an oyster aquaculture operation.
“Independence is fading like the setting sun,” he said.
Danny first “did crab pots in 1953 on the Little Wicomico.” He was 8 years old. Danny’s dad built him a 16-foot skiff made out of old, discarded church pews. He had 25 crab pots and sold his catch to Curtis Smith on Sunny Bank. Smith’s Seafood had a picking operation at the….
